Sunday, October 31, 2010

Dubai OFW gets 3 mos. in jail on stolen money

A 23-year old Filipino cleaner in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been sentenced to three months in jail for possession of 15,000 euros (P901,885) stolen by his two work colleagues.

The sentence was handed down on Thursday by the Court of First Instance in Dubai, according to UAE-based news site Khaleej Times.

The other two people involved in the crime — a driver and an office boy, both Sri Lankan — were charged with theft of 20,000 euros (P1.202 million) and Dh265,000 (P3.106 million) from their workplace.



The Sri Lankans have reportedly fled the country, but were tried in absentia and sentenced to three years in jail.

The site did not identify the Filipino worker, who was first arrested July 23, after he called his engineering company’s Irish owner that morning to say that he had seen two staff members in the building’s lobby the night before.

“I went to the company and checked the doors and windows. However, I did not see any sign of a break-in," the owner said.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that the Sri Lankans had copied the keys to the manager’s office and safe.

The Filipino cleaner called the manager again that afternoon, to tell him that he had found 15,000 euros in the room he shared with the two other defendants.

The owner said that when he returned to the office that afternoon, he found money missing from the safe in his office.

He also reported that the Sri Lankans had disappeared by the time he called the police, along with one of the company vehicles.

The vehicle was later found at the parking lot of the Dubai International Airport. Copies of the keys of the manager’s office and safe were found inside the car.

The Filipino cleaner reportedly admitted during the investigation to being an accomplice of the two convicted thieves, and said he had an agreement to take a share for not reporting the robbery. — LRS/VS, GMANews.TV

No comments:

Post a Comment